Conveying apparatus for hot materials



Dec. 27, 1,938. J. H. OLSON CONVEYING APPARATUS FOR vHO'I MATERIALSFiled May 24, 1957 3 Shets-Sheet 1 Bnventol CH. O/w/n/ (ttornegs ANN J.H. OLSON CONVYING APPARATUS FOR HOT MATERIALS 5 sheets-shea z Filed May24, 1937 Dec. 27, 1938. J. H. oLsoN CONVEYING APPARATUS FOR HOTMATERIALS Filed May 24, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet' 3 Zmventor Oiao/n/Gttornegs Patented Dec. 27, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CONVEYINGAPPARATUS FOR HOT MATERIALS Johan H. Olson, Larchmont,

M. H. Treadwell Company, New York,

N. Y., assignor to N. Y., a.

10 Claims.

rI'his invention relates to conveying apparatus for hot materials andparticularly to hot metal cars for conveying hot molten metal from onepoint to ano-ther.

Hot metal cars at the inception of their use rarely had capacitiesexceeding 75 tons, but demand for larger cars has carried the capacityup to approximately 225 tons. Although there is a Y x demand for cars ofeven greater capacity, there l10 are now controlling or limiting factorssuch as track clearance and permissible wheel loads, so that if anyfurther increases are to be made, the dead weight of the car must bereduced, and those factors which in the past have contributed toexcessive car weight and length must be eliminted.

It is now the practice to build cars having no undercarriage and hencethe car body or ladle is a structural element of the car, subjectnotonly 'l0 to the dead weight of metal but also to draft and buingstresses. A ladle car handling hot metal is necessarily operating underconditions unfavorable to the maintenance of the best structural Ystrength, and, furthermore, the effects of an ac- 25 cident would bedisastro-us.v Consequently, the greatest attention must be given todesign factors, particularly at the weakest point in the structure,namely, the neck of the ladle, which must resist A l not only the deadweight of the ladle and its 30 charge of molten metal, but all draft andbuing stresses as well as the bending moments which eX- ist and are, toa certain extent, reversible.

Heretofore it'has been the practice to support the ladle neck on a longtrunnion supported in 35 two spaced trunnion bearings connected togetheron a unit base which swivels on the king pin of the truck. Thisconstruction is needlessly long, undesirably heavy and expensivetomanufacture.

, The basic thought behind the present inven- 40 tion is the use of asingle trunnion bearing which supports the weight of the ladle and actsin conjunction with a large ring bearing or turntable which transmits,or assists in transmitting, not

y only the draft and bufling stresses, but also the 45 bending moments.This structure produces advantages, the more outstanding of which areshorter bearing construction, lighter weight, simpler form formanufacture, and as good, or better, load resisting characteristics.

According to the principles of this invention, it is proposed to providea car of maximum capacity contemplated by present practice with but asingle ytrunnion support at each end of the body or ladle, and to soconstruct the trunnion sup- 55' ports that while the structure isactually lighter than that heretofore used, it is capable ofwithstanding stresses greater than could be withstood by the structuresof the prior art.

Numerous advantages of the invention will be evident from the follovnngspecication when read in connection with the accompanying drawings inwhich:

Figure 1 is a side view of one form of hot metal car embodying thepresent invention, the center of the car being broken away and one ofthe trunnion supports shown in section;

Fig. 2 is an end View looking toward the right in Fig. 1, and showingthe ladle tilting mechanism;

Fig. 3 is a View in elevation of one end of the car body or ladle shownin Fig. 1, and illustrating the details of one form of motor-operateddumping or tilting mechanism which may be utilized in connection withstructures embodying this invention;

Fig. 4 is a section of the trunnion support at the left hand end of Fig.1, the section being taken substantially on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of a modied form o-f truck and trunnionconnection with parts broken away to show the interior construction;

Fig. 7 is a side View, partly in section, of a modied form of ladletrunnion support which may take the place of the structure shown in Fig.3;

Fig. 8 is a section on line 8 8 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a section on line 9-9 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 10 is a detail view of one form of bearing suitable for use inconnection with the modified form of invention shown in Figs. 7 to 9;

Fig. 11 is a section on line II-II of Fig. 10;

Fig. l2 is a partial side elevation of a car embodying the presentinvention, but employing an eight wheel truck; and

Fig. 13 is a detail view showing a still further embodiment of the ladletrunnion support.-

Referring now to Fig. 1 of the drawings, reference character I9designates the usual hot metal car body o-r ladle having conical endportions 22 rigidly connected totrunnions 23 and 24 terminating inreduced portions or journals 21. The body I9 is lined with the usualrefractory and is provided with the usual sets of pouring sprouts 2| asbest shown in Fig. 2. The trunnions23 and 24 are similarly constructedexcept that trunnion 23 has attached to it means for dumping or tiltingthe ladle, to discharge the contents from the pouring spouts 2 I. Sincethese trunnions are duplicates, a description of one of 65 them onlywill be necessary. Trunnion 24, for eX- ample, comprises a centralcylindrical body portion terminating at one end in a iiared ange 25tting clos-ely over the end portion 22 of the ladle. The opposite end oftrunnion 24 comprises, as here shown, an annular bearing ring or flange26 and a reduced portion or journal 21.

A pedestal housing 28 upstanding from the truck bolster 29 and attachedto it by a pivotal connection or center bearing 3|, has an annularenclosing flange or bearing portion 32 adapted to enclose the ring 26and to engage its lateral faces in load carrying contact. Filler pieces3D may be interposed between flange 32 and ring 26. The housing 28 ispreferably, and as shown, constructed of two hollow arcuate sections,containing two bearing supporting flanges 33 and 34 spaced fromV oneanother and receiving the races of two-sets of roller or otheranti-friction bearings 35 and 36. An annular member 31 is carried by-thejournal 21 between the two bearings 35 and 36, and takes the place ofthe ring gear .at the left-hand end of the ladle. It serves as a spacerfor the bearings.

Truck bolster .2S may be of conventional construction but is here shownas mounted on a siX wheel truck in which the draft gear connection 33 ismade directly to the bolster and is provided with a coupler pocket 39.It will be noted that the arrangement of the connection 38 is such thatall forces transmitted from .the truck to theladle must be withstood bythe pivot connection or trunnion center bearing 3l. Although the drawbarpull will be applied in all cases substantially inline with thecenterbearing, in the preferred form of the invention the draft gearconnection is made directly to the truck below the center bearing. Aswill be indicated hereinafter, the draft gear connection can also bemade to the trunnion support above the center bearing.

In utilizing a hot metal car embodying the present invention, it will bepossible to tilt the ladle by providing it with lugs to which the hookof a crane may be attached. However, it is preferred that motor operateddumping means be provided in accordance with the usual present practice,and the ladle so mounted that its center of gravity is slightly belowthe center line of Vthe supporting trunnions. This is the usualarrangement provided as a safety precaution in case the ladle tiltingmechanism should break' `or become disconnected.

The tiltingmechanismand the method of associating it with a trunnion ofthe ladle will'now be described, reference being had lto Figs. v37.15015which show the structure of the left end of Fig. l.

The housing 4l is preferably constructed in two sections 42 and43terminating in mating anges 44 and 45. These ilanges may be securedtogether by straps 46 bolted to the two Vsections as indicated in Fig.l. This is a simple, effective, and strong method of securing the twohousing sections together and one permitting their separation Vby simplyremoving a few bolts, rather than the expensive and time consumingconstruction usually provided, in which the two mating flanges havebolts passing through them Vat short intervals entirely around thehousing. The bottom half 43 of the housing terminates in a trunnionsupport 41 cored at 48 to receive the king-pin of the center bearing andadapted toV rest in an annular cup in the bolster 29. As previouslydescribed, the housing carries enclosing flanges 32 which embracethelateral sides ,of ring 26 on the end member or trunnion 23. Thejournal 21,.as

.the ring gear 49. Ycarries anextended platform 53, upon whichmopreviously described, is supported in two sets of roller bearings 35and 36 confined and supported inside of the bearing supporting flanges33 and 34. The journal 21 carries a ring gear 49 rigidly secured theretobetween the anges 33 and 34 and serving to space the bearings asindicated in Fig. 4.

'The two housing sections 42 and 43 are extended to form a gear housingsupporting and enclosing drive gearing to connect motor 52 with Thelower housing section 43 .tor-.52 is mounted. The motor is coupled at 54with a shaft 55 journalled in the lower half of housing 5iv and havingattached to it a worm 56 which meshes with-a worm wheel 51 carried on ashaft-58. vAlso mounted on shaft 58 is a pinion `59 which .meshes withthe ring gear 49. It will be seen that this provides a very low ratioreduction gearing between the motor 52 and the ring gear 49. Since thetrunnions of the ladle are supported in anti-friction bearings, and alow driving ratio is provided between the ladle and the motor, a motorof very much smaller size than used heretofore may perform the functionof tilting the ladle. Furthermore, the arrangement is such that the twoend members 23 and`24 may be of identical construction regardless ofwhether they are located at the drive end or dead end of the ladle.Consequently, the same reference characters have been applied to bothtrunnions, except'to distinguish one end of the ladle from the otherwhere connection is made to the ladle end portions 22.

The simplest method of enclosing and support- A ing the trunnionsupporting thrust flange and the trunnion bearings is that illustratedin Figs.' 3 to 5. This construction has the advantage that all verticalstresses are .supported by the journals 21 whereas all horizontalstresses are borne bythering bearing construction comprising the iianges26 and 32. It is to be understood that other constructions embodying theprinciples set forth herein may be utilized to advantage. One suchalternative construction is that illustrated in Figs. '1 to 11, wherein.the trunniony 23 of the ladle is extended to'form a cylindrical portion6| terminating in a wide combined bearing ring and journal 62. In otherwords, instead of providing a trunnion having a journal of reduceddiameter and a flange` for cooperation with a bearing ring of largerdiameter than that of the journal, a single member of large diameterperforms the two functions. In this form of the invention the lateralfaces of journals 62 absorb and carry the horizontal stresses, whereasthe peripheral surface of 62 bears the vertical stresses.

This modied construction is best shown in Fig. A8 of the drawings,wherein the housing 64 is made up of two sections of generally similarconstruction to those indicated 42 and 43 in Fig. 3, and held togetherin a similar manner. The bottom section of the housing 64 cooperateswith the bolster 29 in the same manner as before Yand also carries thesame supporting flange for the driving motor. The interior of thehousing, however, is of somewhat narrow construction and forms twoannular supporting flanges 65 and .66 adapted to engage the sides of thering 62. In this form of the invention, the ring 62 rests on two sets ofroller 4bearings indicated in Fig. 8. Each set of bearings consists ofarocker mount 61 carryingtwo sets of spaced rollers 68 and 69,cooperating with the lateral peripheral vportions of the ring 62, andhaving a self aligning characteristic.

As indicated in Figs. 7 and 9, these roller bearings are carried in thelower half of the housing 64, and support the bottom of the trunnion.The Weight of the partsl is suflicient to insure bearing contact betweenthe thrust lia-nge and the bearings a't all times without the use ofbearings at the top of the housing. Two lateral confining rollerbearings 8| are journalled between the two parts of the housing andinclude rollers 82 engaging ring 62 on either side of thering gearll orequivalent spaces. Inasmuch as the driving motor and gearing used inthis form of the invention may be identical with that already describedin connection with Fig. 3, further de- I scription of the same will beunnecessary.

The dead end trunnion may be supported similarly to that shown in Fig.8, the ring gear 49 of course being omitted, and a spacer substituted.Where the ring gear is omitted, the rollers 68 and 69 may, if desired,extend across the entire face ofthe bearing ring 62 in order to increasethe bearing contact. It will be obvious that instead of the rollerbearings shown, other types of anti-friction bearings may be provided.It will also be possible to support the trunnion directly in the housingwithout the interpositioning of anti-friction members.

So far in this description, it has been assumed that the draft gearconnections are made directly to the truck bolster in the mannerindicated in Fig. 1, the coupler pocket also being attached to thatbolster below the point of contact between the bolsterl and thetrunnion. In some instances, however, it may be possible and desirableto mount the coupler pocket on the trunnion bearing as indicated in Fig.6 of the drawings, wherein the six wheel truck is generally similar inconstruction and arrangement to that shown in Fig. 1. In this instance,however, the coupler pocket 12 is attached to and preferably forms anintegral part of the housing Y1|. Both forms of the invention arepracticable. The drawbar pull takes place through the center bearing 3|in each case and is in line with `the same. Infpractice, the form ofFig. 1 will generally be preferred because of the increased facilitywith which the parts operate when the car is passing around a sharpcurve, whereas, in case of a collision between cars such as to tend tolift the coupling support with or without the truck, the bending momentexerted upon the ring bearing will be considerably less in the form ofthe invention shown in Fig. 1 than in that of Fig, 6, and for thatreason the form of Fig. 1 is preferred. I-Iowever, the construction ofFig. 6 may be utilized and oers many of the advantages of the preferredform.

Although in the description so far given, all of the trucks have beenillustrated as of the six wheel type, obviously the invention is notlimited to any particular type of truck so long as it provides for asingle trunnion bearing pivoted with respect to the truck and havingsufficient strength to perform the desired functions. Whereas, in

practice, it will generally be found desirable to use a six wheel truck,no limitation to that type truck is to be implied. In order to make itclear that the invention is of general application, there has beenillustrated in Fig. 12 a construction in which an eight wheel truck isused.

Referring to Fig. 12 reference character 22 designates the end portionof the ladle as before, terminating in a trunnion supported in a housing38. The lower section of the housing 28 has a center bearing 3|cooperating with a truck bolster 13 having the usual connections to thesprings as indicated at 14. Here the drawbar pull is communicateddirectly from the coupling 38 to the bolster and this coupling is`supported and guided by the bolster 13 as shown. Inasmuch as thestructure of the trunnion bearing and ring bearing inside of the housing28 may conform to either of the constructions already described andillustrated or their equivalents, no. specific description thereof willbe necessary. It will be understood that here as in previously describedconstructions the drawbar pull takes place in a line passing through thecenter bearing 3|, and any suitable changes may be made in the detailsto facilitate the passage of the car around curves or through otherdiflicult locations to be encountered.

The ring bearing carried by the ladle and interlocldng with cooperatinganges on the trunnion housing is but one embodiment ofthe principles' ofthe present invention. The inventive concept is not limited to thisprecise arrangement. Obviously, any interlocking connection forarresting all horizontal stresses between the ladle and the housing, andto permit tilting of the ladle, and in which the diameter of the memberon the ladle is comparable with the ladle diameter may be utilized. Forexample, as indicated in Fig. 13, the parts shown in Fig. 1 may bereversed so that the ring 18 is carried by the housing 19 and cooperateswith a groove 11 in the end lmember 24. In this construction as in thatshown in Fig. 1, vertical stresses are borne by the journal bearingWhile all horizontal stresses are carried by the ring bearing structure.While as a practical matter the arrangement of Fig. 1 is preferred,other structures such as those illustrated may be utilized withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention.

It will be clear from the foregoing description that the above inventionmay be embodied in various forms, any one of which results in a simpliedconstruction which decreases Iboth the cost and weight of the car. Theprovision of large diameter ring bearings carried by the trunnions ofthe ladle provides strength and effective support, making it possible tosubstitute a single trunnion bearing where two such bearings haveheretofore beenV considered necessary. The provision of suitableanti-friction bearings reduces the amount of power required to tilt theladle and, therefore, results in a markedgeconomy from the use of amaterially smaller motor for performing the tilting operation. Practiceof the invention, therefore, effects a material decrease in the amountof heavy metal used in the construction of the car, a smaller motor fortilting the ladle and numerous other reductions in the amount ofmaterial required. Consequently, the ladle may be made of increasedcapacity and one car be made to carry out the purpose which hasheretofore required a plurality of cars, or in any event, the number ofcars required to handle a given quantity of metal may be greatlyreduced.

The cars herein shown and described have been referred to as hot metalcarrying means, but obviously they may find application for transportingother materials either solid or liquid. Consequently, no limitations areto be implied except where the language of the claims renders itnecessary.

What is claimed isz- 1. A dump car for conveying hot metal and the likecomprising a pair of separated trucks,each

Ahaving ya pivot means; ahollow. car body tiltably ings and embraced bysaid pair of flanges to absorb the horizontal forces incident tosupporting said body and transporting the same.

2. A'hot metal car Ycomprising a plurality of trucks each having abolster with a circular seat; a single pedestal upstanding from saidseat and pivoted therein, said pedestal comprising a plural-part housinghaving a pair'ofY annular bearing supporting flanges in close axialproximity to one another, and an annular ring bearing member at one sideof said anges adjacent said body; a car body having reduced endsterminating in trunnions embraced by said flanges to carry verticalstresses and an annularrflange cooperating with said ring bearing memberand embraced thereby to form annular interlocking engagement betweensaid trunnions and saidpedestals to carry horizontal stresses only; andmeans associated with one of said pedestals and with said body fortilting said body to dump the same.

3. In a dump car construction a pedestal comprising a hollow housingmade up of upper and lower hollow sections having mating anges atl theiropen ends and adapted when assembled to forma drum-shaped structure openat one side; a pair of annular and axially spaced trunnion supportingflanges formed by assembly .of .said sections; a pair of axially spacedradial flanges on the housing at the open side thereof and a king pinbearing projection carried by the lower section of said housing.

4. A dump car comprising anelongated body terminating at eachV end in atrunnion; a plurality of trucks one for supporting each end of saidbody, each truck having pivot means and a Y single housing pivotallymounted thereon with its pivot in substantial vertical alignment withthe truck pivot means; trunnion supporting means in each of saidhousings for receiving vertical stresses imposed by the car body; and asingle annular interlocking connection .between each of said housingsand its associated trunnion, said connections being disposed axiallybetween the car body and the trunnion supporting means,

and arranged to receive and arrest the horizontal stresses transmittedbetween the housings and the trunnions but to be substantially free ofvertical stresses.

5. A dump car comprising an elongated body terminating at each end in atrunnion; :a plu-V rality of trucks one at each'end of said body forsupporting the same, each truck having pivot means anda single -housingpivotally mounted thereon with its pivot in substantial verticalalignment with the truck pivot means; trunnion supporting means in eachof said housingsfor receiving vertical stresses imposed by theV carbody; anti-friction bearing means for said trunnions; and a singleannular interlocking connection between each of said housings and thecar body and located axially inward of said trunnion supporting means,said connections being .arranged to receive and arrest the 4axialstresses transmitted between the housings and trunnions and to withstandthe bending moments produced lby said body. on said housings whilepermitting tilting movement of said body, said connections also beingsubstantially free of radial stresses.

`6. A'dump vcar comprising an elongated body terminating at each end ina trunnion; a single annular ange only carried by said body at each endthereof and having a diameter approximating that of said trunnions; aplurality of trucks lat `each end of said body for supporting the same,each truck hav-ing a center bearing; a single upstanding load-supportingpedestal housing pivotally 'connected to each of Asaid trucks at onepoint only in substantially vertical alignment with said center bearing,said housing having a trunnion bearing therein for receiving verticalstresses; and `means integral with said housings for enclosing andengaging both lateral faces of said annular flanges to absorb horizontalstresses acting between the ,body and housings.

'7. A Ydump car comprising an elongated body terminating at each end ina trunnion; an annular iiange having substantially flat lateral facesYadjacent each end of saidbody; aplurality of trucks one for supportingeach end of said body, said .trucks each having a pivot means; .a singlehousing on each truck and pivoted at a single point thereto insubstantially vertical alignment with said pivot means; anti-frictionbearing means in each of said housings for supporting one ofsaid'trunnions therein; and means comprising axially spaced annulariianges carried by said housingsfor enclosing and engaging' both lateralfaces of the iirst mentioned annular iianges to v,absorb horizontalstresses acting between the body `and housings, thering bearing formedby -.said franges being located at least in part besaid trucks andhaving tapered ends lterminating in trunnions supported by saidpedestals; and means comprising an annular bearing having a diameter ofthe order of that of said trunnions Vlocated between each of saidpedestals and said body Vfor absorbing only the horizontal acting bungand drawing stresses imposed upon the car.

9. A hot metal car comprising a car body having conical ends terminatingin trunnions each having a single annular flange having a diameter ofthecrder of that of the trunnions and having both lateral and peripheralbearing surfaces; a truck at each end of said body for supporting thesame, said truck having a center bearing, a single opstandingload-supporting pedestal housing only on each truck and having a singlehousing means for enclosing one of said flanges; a single pivot meansbetween said pedestal housing and said truck, said pivot means being insubstantially vertical alignment with said center bearing; annularmembers projecting axially inward of said housing ior engagement withthe lateral faces of said fdanges to absorb axial stresses; andanti-friction bearing members between the bottom of the housing and saidiianges and bearing against the periphery oi said iianges for absorbingradial stresses.

l0. A hot metal car comprising a car body having conical endsterminating in trunnions; a truck at each end -of said body forsupporting the same ;4 a single radially projecting flange on each ofsaid trunnionssaid ange having lateral bearing faces for receiving axialstresses, an extended annular periphery for receiving vertical stressesand a diameter of the order of that of the trunnions; a singleupstanding load supporting pedestal housing only pivotally mounted oneach of said trucks, and comprising a housing means having two annularbearing surfaces engaging the two lateral faces of each of said flanges,saidY flanges and said pedestal mounting being in substantially verticalalignment with said center bearing; and bearing means in said housingsfor cooperation with the peripheral bearing surfaces 5 of said anges.

JOHAN H. OLSON.

"CERTIFICATE 0E CORRECTION.

Patent-No. 2,1hl, 69LIQ December 27, 1958.V

JOHNH. OLSON.

Itishereby certified that error appears in the printed specificationofthe above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page h.,first column, line 5, claml, strike out the semicolon-after means"; andsecond column, line 8, claim', after the word "trucks" insert one; line11, same claim, after "housing" insert only; and that the said LettersPatent shonld be readwith this correction therein that the same mayconform to the record of the case In the Patent office. v v

Signed and sealed this 7th day of February, A. D. l1939.

Henry Van Arsdale (Seel) Acting commissioner of Patents.

